BBC did a report, suggesting Air Fryers use 1/2 to 2/3rds less power than a fan oven.
Cooking reports suggest the food tastes good too. There seems to be a few types (drawers/bowls/flap down door)
Whos got one, wot you got, is it any good
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 5 Sep 22 at 15:34
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I've just started using one, they heat up fast 190c in 3 mins. I think you need to turn them down a bit either time or temp wise to get like for like comparison to a fan oven. Instead of 200c, 190 possibly even 180c is about right.
Ours is a fryer type drawer that you pull out, looks like a frying basket.
Downsides it is quite a small basket.
Only used it about 4 or 5 times so far, cooks salmon from frozen in no time at all, no issues at all with it.
You can bake desserts in there, not done that yet. I think you can use it as a small proving drawer as well.
They can be a bit bigger than you think, it's quite tall if you want to put it in a cupboard after use.
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Destined to go the same way as yogurt makers, spiralisers, liquidisers, paninini toasters , pasta makers and coffee percolators.
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I was waiting for someone to say that.
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>> I was waiting for someone to say that.
>>
Oh and I forgot sodastreams, that staple of charity shops everywhere.
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I can say I've none on that list (or previously owned), I'm not really sure what a spiriliser or liquidiser are. Perhaps i should spend more time in charity shops.
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>> I can say I've none on that list (or previously owned), I'm not really sure
>> what a spiriliser or liquidiser are. Perhaps i should spend more time in charity shops.
A liquidiser, otherwise known as a blender, is still extant in many kitchens.
It chops up solid items like say veg in a soup to produce a consistent texture.
Smoothies are another blender product.
My Mother had a Moulinex liquidiser, with a plastic blending jug, in the sixties. The jug separated from its motor unit for washing and the motor could also drive a grinder suitable for coffee, peppercorns or breadcrumbs.
Modern blenders tend to be handheld with the blender/whisk immersed in any suitable vessel such as a pan.
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Actually with the glut of courgettes we got the spiraliser has been out in full force lately.
FYI it makes courgetti, AKA low-carb spaghetti
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>> Destined to go the same way as yogurt makers, spiralisers, liquidisers, paninini toasters , pasta
>> makers and Microwaves & coffee percolators.
>>
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Got an Actifry. Can use it with or without the paddle in it. Paddle for things like chips that you want to constantly turn. Without for things like chicken sausages etc that would maybe break up with constantly getting turned.
Use it more and more as is quick, not messy and bowl etc is dishwasher safe.
Downside is it is quite noisy but apparently a lot quieter than the big Ninja things.
As with many kitchen appliances, an infinite number of uses but pretty much used for the same things time after time in our house.
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Still using your yogurt maker then. Microwaves are interesting. The magic machine of the eighties. Barely use ours apart from warming plates and cooking porridge. Does anyone cook proper meals in them ?
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>>Microwaves are interesting. The magic machine of the eighties.
>> Barely use ours apart from warming plates and cooking porridge. Does anyone cook proper meals in them ?
We use ours mainly for defrosting and warming plates. Gave up trying to heat mugs of soup as too much faff.
Fish cooks well in a microwave. Used to do trout in them but these days its mostly sorting out the smoked haddock for my signature dish - kedgeree.
Good for Staffordshire Oatcakes and grated cheese - cheese melts better than under a grill.
Baked potatoes can be speeded up but need time in the oven to crisp them. Our fitted kitchen includes a combi microwave/fan oven so just a question of changing the cook type.
When the kids were babies the microwave, then a worktop standalone, was good for both sterilising and warming bottles. Ours went pop when The Lad was about 6 weeks. Failed at lunch time and new one was up/running by 4pm.
Daughter has found it best way of sterilising bottles; like us she and her husband found a splash of Milton ruined clothes.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 5 Sep 22 at 17:15
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Too much faff to heat soup in microwave?
We do it all the time. 2 min 30sec and it’s ready. Every time
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I used to heat soup in the microwave
Now we have a soup maker........
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Looks like I am late to the party. Lots of retailers are out of stock.
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>> Looks like I am late to the party. Lots of retailers are out of stock.
Same with the tumble dryer we bought a while back. Waited around three months.
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>> >> Destined to go the same way as yogurt makers, spiralisers, liquidisers, paninini toasters ,
>> pasta
>> >> makers and Microwaves & coffee percolators.
Foot spas and bread makers?
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>> and bread makers?
We've been using bread makers for the best part of two decades. Wouldn't be without one.
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>>We've been using bread makers for the best part of two decades. Wouldn't be without one.
Same 'ere, haven't eaten shop bread for 20 years. On my 2nd Pana machine, make 100 purr scent wholemeal.
Usually use Stoate's flour, but bought a LARGE sack of Shipton's when the war started. Justin Case.
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I think bread kneads some love, so I make it the traditional manual way.
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It also needs a degree of expertise and a fair amount of time. Lucky enough to have a small family baker nearby so just buy a few loaves and put them in the freezer.
Don’t actually eat much bread these days. Like for many I suspect bread has gone from being an absolute essential to a small part of my diet.
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Mine has gone from boring bread to many different types and styles of bread.
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Esme bread: www.flickr.com/photos/43576259@N04/52338495951/in/datetaken-public/
Made with a Panasonic SD2500 bread machine - to perfection.
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Oh, sorry, assumed you'd know.
Is the photo in your Flickr album with that number, you?
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Sorry Cc, I haven't used Flickr for years. Yes, that was me ... 10 years ago!
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>> Sorry Cc, I haven't used Flickr for years. Yes, that was me ... 10 years
>> ago!
It's a fantastic picture. Should have been an album cover for The Tull or perhaps Gryphon.
I'd go and listen now, but I'm halfway through an album by The Left Banke.
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>>It's a fantastic picture. Should have been an album cover for The Tull or perhaps Gryphon.
>>I'd go and listen now, but I'm halfway through an album by The Left Banke.
I replied to this post last nite, but it appears to have vanished for some reason?
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>> I replied to this post last nite, but it appears to have vanished for some
>> reason?
Well, who knows. All I can say is that other than that "ballerina" track they had some sort of hit with, The Left Banke doesn't have much to offer.
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>>All I can say is that other than that "ballerina" track they had some sort of hit with, The Left Banke doesn't have much to offer.
The memsahib didn't think much of them. I've stuck it in my faves for further appraisal.
This was my offering: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0gL75ptUto
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>> sooty123
Username checks out. Best avoid ;-)
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>> >> sooty123
>>
>> Username checks out. Best avoid ;-)
>>
Quoi?
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I've been Czeching 'em on Amazon etc. but not Shure what one to gofer.
Main reason for getting one is to save on leccy. It has to cook a 1.5kg chicken, sausages, bacon, oven chips.
We live well down 'ere in godforsaken Cornwall.
I lean towards the Cosori 5.5L job @ £100 - out-of-stock on Amazon.
I know they are TALL, but he'll live on the hob. Noise, well, my extractor fan is noisy too.
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Can you put a pizza in them, or warm up curry left overs ?
Not as the same time. Obviously.
I can be a food animal after beer, but even so.....
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We bought a Dewoo for fifty quid this year, large capacity with baskets to let you cook multiple foods and an extention that fits on top if you want to cook a large joint.
Everything we've used it for up tp now has tasted much better and they are brilliant for chips. Very far from being a five minute wonder.
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We have one of the Ninja jobbies with two draws, so different things can cook with different timings.
Draws are deep, but not very wide.
It's really great for snacks or for things where putting the main oven on would be a total waste energy and it does chips brilliantly.
You have to give the draws a shake halfway through the cook to get a nice even crisp.
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Ironically we spotted a small one - Tower at £25 in B&M a couple of hours ago. So we'll give it a try.
A few chips loaded up. I nip outside. "Its blown a fuse" says Mrs FC. Investigation reveals a 7 AMP fuse. Yeah I've got loads of those :/ Not even Screwfix or Toolstation lists them.
OK it 10AMP and see what develops :O.
Well what develops was a flash and bang from behind the controls. So its going back.
There endeth the first lesson. :)
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We were bought a Ninja by eldest daughter two Chrimbos ago. I know not how to use it. As well as all the other stuff, it can be a pressure cooker.
It seems to me that the best time to use it, or the liquidiser, it at 1 pm when I have just sat down with a sandwich to watch the news
I say 'watch' because there's no chance of hearing it with either of those two engines of the Devil running ! Tank de lord for subtitles !
Ted
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>> OK it 10AMP and see what develops :O.
>> Well what develops was a flash and bang from behind the controls.
Its called the RDF. The rapid diagnostic fuse.
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Birmingham daughter has a Ninja 15-in-1. I've no idea how many of the 15 she has use, or even what they all are, but she uses it for the two of them most of the time now apparently.
Local daughter has the Ninja 9-in-1 which is with s. SWMBO said it is a great slow cooker (but we already have one), it fries stuff fairly well (though insufficient space for chips for 3 greedies).
In fact that's maybe the problem, it isn't huge. But as said above it takes quite a bit of space (and the 9-in-1 has a separate lid for pressure cooking).
With a microwave, halogen, electric oven and induction hob I think we will just use the "loaner" until it goes but not replace it.
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If you really want to be “on trend” and impress your dinner party guests you need a sous vide.
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Yes but it’s got a French name so sure to impress. You can’t get by on Mastechef without using one.
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M e r d e !
Last edited by: Kevin on Tue 6 Sep 22 at 12:25
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I have recently bought an Instant Pot Vortex 4 in 1 air fryer. Amazon had it on offer for £59 instyead of the usual £99, and it is a Which? best buy.
Certainly, it won't go the way of useless gadgets. It's brilliant, and chicken is cooked in record time and tastes delicious. I find chicken to be very bland when cooked in a standard gas oven, but is totally different in the Vortex.
The air fry basket is quite big at 5.7 litres. It will hold a medium size chicken that many air fryers can't. I live alone so I cut the chicken in half, season it and set the air fryer. It heats up in a few minutes and you then put in your food.
You can cook almost anything in an air fryer, and chips come out well.
I also have a Panasonic bread maker and use it regularly. The Panasonic Induction micro-wave is another brilliant machine that does a multitude of things - not just to defrost or heat up.
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>> I have recently bought an Instant Pot Vortex 4 in 1 air fryer. Amazon
>> had it on offer for £59 instyead of the usual £99, and it is a
>> Which? best buy.
Mrs CS is looking to buy an air fryer, so I've bookmarked the Vortex.
It's currently £99.99 on on Amazon.
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Just a small point. Air fryers are misnamed. They don’t of course fry anything. They bake like an oven.
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Well I think this thread outlines what I had already grasped. Everyone who has an Air fryer thinks they are the dog danglies. (despite the fact they dont fry in the air)
Going to get one, just a matter of what type and size.
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Isn't this a bit like Boris telling you to buy a new kettle to save money?
How long will it take before you break even?
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 6 Sep 22 at 20:08
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>>How long will it take before you break even?
It's not all about the money, I ordered one today, and I'll use it to cook food that's normally done in the oven.
They are basically small fan ovens - proven to use less energy than the BIG oven.
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Zero
look at Very, they have various makes and models in stock. We bought a 7 litre tower model couple weeks ago its great.
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Dare I mention LIDL are selling one from Sunday 11th for fifty quid?
www.lidl.co.uk/en/online-leaflets/08-09-14-09-lidl-weekly-b0bcc9/view/flyer/page/18
Also, just seen one in my local B&M.
I'll keep below the parapet for now!
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Lidl and B & M
Let’s hope no one saw you.
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Whisper it softly, had lunch in 'spoons.
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At the mention of 'spoons, where's Duncan?
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Duncan's not visited the site since early August.
Henry k was in yesterday but hasn't posted for a week or two.
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The LIDL air fryer basket is too small at 2.5 litres. It will only hold a portion of chips and you couldn't cook a whole, or even half a chicken.
You need to buy one with a decent sized basket. My Vortex has a 5.7 litre basket and will hold a medium size chicken.
Last edited by: Robbie34 on Thu 8 Sep 22 at 12:24
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5.7 L, that must be pretty big?
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>> 5.7 L, that must be pretty big?
>>
...big enough for a Chevy Camaro or a Dodge Ram.... ;-)
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>> >> 5.7 L, that must be pretty big?
>> >>
>>
>> ...big enough for a Chevy Camaro or a Dodge Ram.... ;-)
And Like them, Misleading. 5.7 litres is not big. All of the volume in the basket is not useable.
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It will only hold a portion of chips
Lidl know their market. :-)
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>> and will hold a medium size chicken.
I hope you're not egg-aggerating.
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My missus got me one of those big Aldi Kamado egg BBQ thingies.
Have done a couple of full chickens in it already. Don’t think I’ll cook them any other way now!
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Ok my Machine of choice is this www.lakeland.co.uk/26920/lakeland-dual-basket-air-fryer
(maybe some stock in November!!!)
or
www.lakeland.co.uk/26873/instant-vortex-plus-dual-drawer-air-fryer-with-clearcook
Available? who knows.
Rarer than rocking horse manure - All thats available are the useless ones
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The Lakeland is the better buy. One large basket so you could cook a joint or chicken and chips or roast potatoes. This seems to be the only air fryer that offers this.
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Well (better than so!) I bought a Cosori 5.5ltr air fryer and have been using it for the past week.
Cooked sausages, bacon, fish cakes, frozen oven chips, a whole chicken and roast potatoes.
All cooked up very well with no problems at all. I'll be using it all the time now and will hardly use the oven now.
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Popped into Costco this Am to renew dog food supplies and
Bingo
They had just got these in stock.
www.costco.co.uk/Appliances/Small-Kitchen-Appliances/Cooking-Specialty/Sur-La-Table-Dual-Basket-Air-Fryer-76L/p/8797
100 quid inc VAT, stuffed one in the trolley.
AND HOT DOGS ARE BACK......
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We've had the previous version of this for maybe a year. £55. It's saved a lot of time, it seems to do stuff in just over half the time it takes in the big oven even on fan. Currently £85 on Amazon.
www.costco.co.uk/Appliances/Small-Kitchen-Appliances/Cooking-Specialty/Gourmia-67L-Digital-Air-Fryer/p/6487
A double one would be handy. As is sometimes the case she is out now doing Pilates or yoga and I have just been told to get something simple ready for 7.15. A trawl (ho ho) of the freezer finds some battered fish fillets and oven chips, OK for a quick meal I thinks, but if I air fry them I'll need to do them successively.
Buying another at £55 sounds better than getting a double at £100. Or maybe I'll just carry on bunging the chips in the big oven.
Last edited by: Manatee on Wed 16 Nov 22 at 18:05
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Bought one of these last week. Impressed by how much quieter it is compared to my older Actifry.
Lots of decisions to be made before buying air fryer like space available, one drawer or two, space per drawer needed.
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I have a halogen oven. I'm assuming they aren't that different really. This kind of thing.
www.tjhughes.co.uk/products/lewiss-12-litre-halogen-oven-cooker-with-adjustable-temperature-control?variant=40851577274533&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsdKbBhDHARIsANJ6-jfgbL0rf5akeMHCi1Iho9sjuV-xM_XC_qi3OW1jQ1JqyoLT-lzEyjQaAkxGEALw_wcB
Or to put it another way, is there any reason an air fryer is significantly better?
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 16 Nov 22 at 20:15
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How fast is it?
Stuff that is supposed to take 20 minutes in a fan oven will often cook in 12 in the air fryer at the same temperature! I can't really work out why, unless it's that it really blasts the food with heated air, unlike a fan oven that just stirs it up a bit to even out the temperature.
Last edited by: Manatee on Wed 16 Nov 22 at 20:35
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Yes ours is the same, sometimes you only need half the time of the oven. I guess it saves a bit of cash as well.
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>> How fast is it?
>>
>> Stuff that is supposed to take 20 minutes in a fan oven will often cook
>> in 12 in the air fryer at the same temperature! I can't really work out
Generally speaking, the rule of thumb seems to be to cook 20c lower and 20% less time than a fan oven.
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>> Generally speaking, the rule of thumb seems to be to cook 20c lower and 20%
>> less time than a fan oven.
I thank you.
Reduced last evening to opening a bag of Grandma Bertha's 'roast' potatoes, with fan oven instructions being 25-30 minutes at 210C, I set the AF to 190 and they took 20 minutes.
The results were also much better than I have achieved on previous attempts at them.
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>> I have a halogen oven. I'm assuming they aren't that different really. This kind of
>> thing.
>>
>> www.tjhughes.co.uk/products/lewiss-12-litre-halogen-oven-cooker-with-adjustable-temperature-control?variant=40851577274533&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsdKbBhDHARIsANJ6-jfgbL0rf5akeMHCi1Iho9sjuV-xM_XC_qi3OW1jQ1JqyoLT-lzEyjQaAkxGEALw_wcB
>>
>> Or to put it another way, is there any reason an air fryer is significantly
>> better?
>>
That's exactly what I've got except mine is Dewoo branded. The trivet supplied with it enables you to cook two separate foods at the same time.
I think the saving in time and energy compared to an oven is because they are smaller, need less time to heat up and less to keep it up to temperature.
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i think you are probably right RR, though we don't use ours a lot (at the moment). I'd say it's likely cheaper than using the oven, and faster due to less heating time ,if you can fit whatever you are cooking in it.
I've no idea what make mine is, that was just the first example which came to hand :-)
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Bought a Ninja 400AFUK last week. Like the proverbial hens' teeth. Did the research and watched multiple retailers continuously until I got lucky with a small window of opportunity at Argos and secured one. £230 for the larger of the double-drawer models they make.
With only SWMBO and myself to feed, running the large family-size oven is pretty wasteful for us, but I couldn't imagine a Christmas dinner for 6 being cooked in an air-fryer, so will be keeping both.
The air-fryer will do anything a conventional fan-oven will do and quicker, but it's especially good at things like potato chips or wedges or anything you would normally roast, as hot air is circulated around and under the food, if the "crisper plate" is used, which also reduces the amount of oil you need.
I use mine in conjunction with the hob and microwave. (E.g. parboiled potato wedges cooked perfectly in less than 15 minutes.)
The one slight drawback is that the mains lead is very short and I'm in the process of installing a new socket near where we've decided to keep the air fryer.
No particular problems with noise.
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I don’t have the energy to even roughly work it out, but if the 20 degrees less heat and 20% less time for an air fryer is about right, then I s the ballpark payback time for £230 less or more than the expected life of the oven?
I know some here like their spreadsheets. Anyone done the calcs?
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You still need an oven too though so you need to factor that in Don’t think you can bake a cake, cook a casserole, make a dish of lasagne or bake an apple crumble in an air fryer can you?
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Depends on how big the tray/drawer is.
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Cake - yes
Casserole - yes - an oven save dish will work. It will need to be smaller to fit though with room at side to cracking when expanding.
Lasagne - yes.
Apple crumble - yes.
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So I can bake the Christmas cake in one then ? The lasagne and crumble are usually in a tray 30cm x 20cm. Are these things that big? Casserole about 22cm diameter. How low can you turn them down?
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How low can you turn them down?
Mines got a defrost mode, so pretty low.
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>> So I can bake the Christmas cake in one then ?
Yes. Intending to experiment with home made scones and mince pies too.
>>The lasagne and crumble
>> are usually in a tray 30cm x 20cm.
Depends on what type you buy, they can be big. Mine is two drawers of 24cm x 15cm x 9cm deep.
>>Are these things that big? Casserole about
>> 22cm diameter.
round ones can come that large.
>>How low can you turn them down?
Depends - mine 80c
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>>22cm diameter..
You need containers to fit in the smaller drawers of the air fryers.
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>> I don’t have the energy to even roughly work it out, but if the 20
>> degrees less heat and 20% less time for an air fryer is about right,
Wattage in use is less too, the volume of air to heat is lower, and warm up much faster.
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Our oven is 2kW. It takes about 10 mins to heat to 180, and thereafter is probably on about a 50% duty cycle, so it probably uses about 1.2kWh for the first hour and 1 kWh / h after that. We probably use it 3 or 4 times a week for an hour; rare it is on for more than that. So it might use 5kWh in a 'heavy' week. If the AF used half this (not unreasonable, the one Zero linked was 1.7kW) then it could save 2.5 kWh / week, or around 85p - so even at £100 or so payback is > 2 years.
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>> this (not unreasonable, the one Zero linked was 1.7kW)
Both drawers in use. One drawer say .9 to 1kw
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>>Our oven is 2kW.
Interesting, thanks Richard. Always I like to have an idea of the payback of these things as a factor in the decision tree.
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I have no affiliations to this couple on youtube but they do home cooking in thier airfryers. We have been watching them since September when we first got ours and have cooked a few things they have done,Some people might find them irritating but they are on our level so don't mind them.
youtube.com/@butlersempire
Last edited by: Ateca chris on Sun 20 Nov 22 at 17:46
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I finally got round to looking at one of these things in a store. They are pretty big and at the end of the day can’t see it justifying it’s worktop space for the limited use to which it would end up being put. Probably just making chips. Our kitchen is not overly large and space is limited
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I had the same thought and the same workspace issues. However it has been in use, more or less, every day, Can you dump the oven or the microwave? no.
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...and I already have a halogen "oven" on the worktop, and the air fryers don't seem to do a great deal more that we would use. I have just bought SWMBO a soup maker for Christmas as we had one on long loan and she used it a lot, and was very taken with it. All the odds and ends of vegetables go in, it chops them all to the fineness of your choosing then cooks up a tasty soup.
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Indeed, the soup maker is about the only other "gadget' that earns its place on the worktop. Ditto, chucked all the leftover veg from the Sunday roast in the soup maker, a couple of of par baked ciabatta in the air fryer, and a very tasty meal is delivered with minimum fuss or excessive power usage.
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What does a soup maker do that a saucepan, knife and chopping board can’t manage?
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What does a text message do that a pen, paper, envelope, stamp and postman can’t?
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>> What does a soup maker do that a saucepan, knife and chopping board can’t manage?
Soup maker would appear to both heat and blend.
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>> What does a soup maker do that a saucepan, knife and chopping board can’t manage?
and blender
Well you dont need saucepan, knife, chopping board & blender.
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Shirley you still need a knife to chop up the veg to go into the soup maker?
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>> >> What does a soup maker do that a saucepan, knife and chopping board can’t
>> manage?
>>
>> and blender
>>
>> Well you dont need saucepan, knife, chopping board & blender
Well not for the soup perhaps but you still need those things in your kitchen and if you have them it makes sense perhaps to use them rather than buy another gadget with a limited utility. I suppose it depends on how much soup you eat (drink?).
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>> Well not for the soup perhaps but you still need those things in your kitchen
>> and if you have them it makes sense perhaps to use them rather than buy
>> another gadget with a limited utility. I suppose it depends on how much soup you
>> eat (drink?).
If its quick easy and convenient to use, and the results are good, there is more inclination to use it.
At the end of the day we are two factions, one looking for reasons and excuses not to have something, the other justifying why to have something.
All I can say is, appliances and gadgets only survive in my kitchen if they are worthy, many have disappeared into landfill. (including a slow cooker)
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I've had a slow cooker for years, in use every day.
She has improved with some training and encouragement, though !
Ted
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What is the most useless kitchen gadget you have ever been tempted to buy.
I think ours was an electric can-opener although the electric carving knife must be a contender.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Thu 1 Dec 22 at 12:34
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>> I think ours was an electric can-opener although the electric carving knife must be a
>> contender.
Mother had an electric can opener, pretty useless as half the time it didn't grip the can well enough .
Carving knife otoh was pretty good.
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>> I think ours was an electric can-opener
Our Kenwood electric can opener works very well. Got to be several years old now.
Never got the hang of a knife sharpener we have though. It's the type that looks like a mini sword or fencing sabre. Sharpening steel, I think they call it.
The £3 jobbie I got from Tesco works very well though.
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The secret of using a steel to sharpen knives is little and often. Use it every time you use the knife and don’t let it get blunt.
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Battery operated, PIR sensing, liquid, hand soap dispencer. SWMBO ditched it the second time it emptied its contents on the kitchen windowsill. I may have used it once or twice and found it delivered far too much soap.
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>> What is the most useless kitchen gadget you have ever been tempted to buy.
Homer Simpson shaped toasted sandwich maker.
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Electric juicer, many years ago.
Used twice.
A minute to juice two oranges, then about an hour to clean it out.
Went to a good as new sale.
8o(
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A two way rotation juicer is my most used kitchen gadget when in Spain.
Buy 5kg of oranges for a few € ( actually €6 last month as out of season) and juiced in double quick time. If, like you, it was in the U.K. it would probably be gathering dust
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My mother bought on obsceneley expensive Swiss pressure cooker. No idea why, a bog standard Tower she had when we were kids gathered dust for years or at least was only used as an outsize saucepan.
When she asked me to take it to the tip it was unused with the instructions still inside.
Served us well for a while but then the seal went.
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>> then the seal went
We demand to know where the seal went?
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>> We demand to know where the seal went?
Maybe we should club together and look for it.
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>> >> We demand to know where the seal went?
>>
>> Maybe we should club together and look for it.
you wont need to look fur
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>> you wont need to look fur
You're right. It looks like it's lion over there.
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>> My mother bought on obsceneley expensive Swiss pressure cooker. No idea why, a bog standard Tower she had when we were kids gathered dust for years or at least was
>> only used as an outsize saucepan.
>>
>>
>>
You beat me to it with pressure cooker. They were all the rage in the mid-eighties, a bit like stone cladding and about as useful.
And I've binned a few sandwich toasters over the years, another five minute wonder.
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My old man bought a pressure cooker and used it regularly and was certainly using it when I left for uni. Wifey uses one, too. I wouldn't know what to do with one.
My kids use sandwich toasters pretty much daily and I sometimes shove a couple of skinny sausages in them.
I do like a piping hot ham and cheese sandwich from time to time.
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Pressure cooking is energy saving. I predict a revival.
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Good for steak and kidney pudding.
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>> Good for
Good for those who have no teeth
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'Good for those who have no teeth'
Very true (kind of). A bit of a teenage ruckus in a Manchester night club left me with a shattered jaw and a few missing teeth. They plated the jaw bone and wired my teeth together and I existed on fluids for a couple of months. A real nightmare and constantly hungry as the family tucked into their steak and chips. I was saved when my mother discovered the blender and my all time favourite steak & kidney pudding and gravy - the answer to my prayers. A straw would fit perfectly through the gaps. But I used to get a lot of blockages which was rather frustrating.
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>> But I used to get a lot of blockages which was rather frustrating.
>>
In the straw, or.....
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>> 'Good for those who have no teeth'my all time favourite
>> steak & kidney pudding and gravy - the answer to my prayers.
Hollands ? Had one tonight with chips and gravy from the local chippie. Proper chips as well, not all sharp little end bits !
Ted
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I remember as a kid standing too close to my cousin playing putting. Well I wasn’t too close for putting. But he decided he wanted to use it as a driver.
Anyway teeth knocked out, blood spewing everywhere. I remember dad taking me to the hospital with an empty ice cream tub (Camps) under my chin as the blood poured out.
To say sorry my cousin bought me a Cadburys Dairy Milk.
I was in liquids for weeks staring at it……
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>> Good for steak and kidney pudding.
At 'spoon's tonight for a curry and few pints with old colleagues. See steak and kidney pudding's back on the menu, with a discount between 2:00 and 5:00pm.
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>> At 'spoon's tonight for a curry and few pints with old colleagues. See steak and
>> kidney pudding's back on the menu, with a discount between 2:00 and 5:00pm.
Excellent.
Which one?
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Its not normally a meal that translates well to restaurant cooking. Best done at home with a beautiful suet pastry case that's golden on the outside when cooked. Every time I've had one elsewhere its had a greyish slimy pastry.
I think the problem is that it takes around 5 hours to make properly.
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>> Its not normally a meal that translates well to restaurant cooking. Best done at home
>> with a beautiful suet pastry case that's golden on the outside when cooked. Every time
>> I've had one elsewhere its had a greyish slimy pastry.
Had them in both 'spoons and the Sam Smith's Cittie of Yorke in Holborn while still working in London. Quite good in 'spoons but suspect warmed in a microwave in the other place.
Half a lifetime ago when Mrs B and I spent weekends and holidays in Youth Hostels the Fray Bentos ones were quite good.
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>> Half a lifetime ago when Mrs B and I spent weekends and holidays in Youth
>> Hostels the Fray Bentos ones were quite good.
Saw some in B&M t'other day.
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>> >> Half a lifetime ago when Mrs B and I spent weekends and holidays in
>> Youth
>> >> Hostels the Fray Bentos ones were quite good.
>>
>> Saw some in B&M t'other day.
>>
The ones in a tin?
They are truly awful!
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I do volunteer work in the local foodbank, mainly supermarket collections but also the "goods in" at the warehouse. We see loads of those Fray Bentos, I think I used to like them, ages ago.
Overwhelmed with beans and spaghetti at the moment though...
Not complaining though, many people are very generous...
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>> The ones in a tin?
>>
>> They are truly awful!
Never had one, so about two years ago I said to Queen Zee,"lets try one"
It was, utterly and completely, disgusting.
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>> It was, utterly and completely, disgusting.
Not had the Fray Bentos item recently but my recollection was of them being perfectly edible. Nothing like as good as my Mum might have made but keeping cooking simple on a limited number of gas rings in a Youth Hostel's self catering kitchen an OK meal.
IIRC you could warm them in the same pan as your spuds were cooking in.
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>> The ones in a tin?
>>
>> They are truly awful!
Never had the Cake and Sidney. But way way back (1960's/70's) have had some of the other pies and puddings. OK I thought but unlike real food in the same way as Vesta dehydrated curries, which I also liked as a thing of themselves.
The weakness I still have for this kind of thing is cup soups. Batchelors Cream of Mushroom with Crampons being the pinnacle of the art. Ainsley Haribo's East Indian Mulligatawny runs it a close second. The boon companion won't touch them.
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>> I think the problem is that it takes around 5 hours to make properly.
Indeed,so it spends 4 hours 57 minutes in the factory, 14 -21 days in the chiller, and 3 minutes in the spoons microwave.
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>>14 - 21 days in the chiller....
On my rounds to various factories there are some foods that surprised me.
Mince pies for example, will be made from January 23 for December 23 and frozen.
Apples go in to deep store for months.
An industrial butcher, I didn't know what to expect, was in a 1950's building with brown tiles up the walls and was spotlessly clean.
Boiled sweet makers, still very much a manual process to start with. Again, the factory was spotlessly clean.
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You aren't Greg Wallace are you? Or his dreadful sidekick, Cherry?
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07mddqk
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>> You aren't Greg Wallace are you? Or his dreadful sidekick, Cherry?
>>
>> www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07mddqk
>>
Outed darn-it! :-D
Many of my factory tours are similar, but the thing is, most factories are incredibly noisy so it's almost impossible to hear everything that is said on the tour, especially when wearing ear defenders!
Went to one place not too long ago and was being given a tour of a company, offices and plant and there were heavily armed, rifles across chest type armed, MOD police outside certain areas. It was a bit disconcerting.
A company that makes ours and other banks cards was interesting for the security at the place.
A subcontract car design company that had a full size clay model of a car on a turntable with a team adding to it.
A company making stuff that would go in to space.
A company making stuff that is dropped in to oceans by aircraft.
Pie makers, cheese makers, distillers, brewers, foundries - huge, big and small, numerous engineering firms, car part manufacturers, engine manufacturers, printers, packaging manufacturers, pharmaceutical manufacturers etc. etc.
Nearly killed at one steel mill when something like this happened: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOwbAdC6apg and missed me by inches - I was on the tour and was guided through a door to the plant and the guy behind me pulled me back just as one of these things whipped past me. The heat was intense.
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Ovens and saucepans don't feature in 'spoons's cuisine.
Everything can be "cooked" using a griddle, deep fryer, and microwave. I think this applies to a lot of high-volume food pubs.
I shall never forget an experience at the Crown Inn at Napton, in the early 2000's. We were served Apple Sponge & Custard that was absolutely vulcanised by microwave. It must have been at 200 degrees C and welded to the dish. Just as well, as attempting to eat it would have resulted in serious burns. This former pub is now a children's nursery.
Say what you like about 'spoons, they know how to use microwaves.
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'I shall never forget an experience at the Crown Inn at Napton, in the early 2000's. We were served Apple Sponge & Custard that was absolutely vulcanised by microwave. It must have been at 200 degrees C'
I was burnt by a microwave a couple of years ago. Just a regular cup of coffee that I'd forgotten about. I shoved it in the microwave for 60 seconds thinking it would be just right. I touched the cup to feel it was hot enough. Seemed fine. I grabbed the handle and it was instant agony. Frying pan temperatures - nasty blisters on 3 fingers.
I've never fathomed it. Doesn't it heat by agitating the molecules of a liquid? So why the cup handle which was bone dry? And it's happened again a few times, warming up my coffee. Except I test the handle before I dare pick it up. Way over 100 degrees c.
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>> I've never fathomed it. Doesn't it heat by agitating the molecules of a liquid? So
>> why the cup handle which was bone dry? And it's happened again a few times,
>> warming up my coffee. Except I test the handle before I dare pick it up.
>> Way over 100 degrees c.
That's familiar.
Certain ceramics, or maybe the glaze, must heat up with microwaves. We have maybe 20 smal white side plates in our everyday crockery. All are M&S ones, except one almost identical looking plate that is IKEA.
I often microwave stuff on these plates, or use one to cover e.g. soup that I am nuking in case it superheats and erupts all over the enclosure. I always have to check I'm not using the IKEA plate - it gets absolutely burning hot. The M&S ones don't heat up at all except by conduction.
I also have a jug we use for gravy that gets super hot, while the contents barely get warm!
Last edited by: Manatee on Sat 3 Dec 22 at 18:23
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>> Hot crockery...
According to Google:
"Trace metals in a ceramic dish or piece of stoneware and plastics or other material not manufactured for microwave heating are the most common reasons for dishes and plates getting too hot while heating in a microwave oven."
Did you know that you can calculate the speed of light using a microwave:
wonders.physics.wisc.edu/measure-the-speed-of-light/
Last edited by: zippy on Sat 3 Dec 22 at 21:18
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>>
>> And I've binned a few sandwich toasters over the years, another five minute wonder.
>>
I love a sandwich or panini made in a sandwich maker, but they are fragile considering how simple they should be and a nightmare to clean.
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>> I love a sandwich or panini made in a sandwich maker, but they are fragile
>> considering how simple they should be and a nightmare to clean.
>>
What on earth are you putting in those sandwiches? We’ve has our sandwich maker for fifteen years at least. A quick wipe with a damp cloth while it’s still warm suffices to clean it
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Somewhere between our bungleyhole burning down and moving into the new house we lost our clamshell sandwich toaster.
I do like a cheese and onion toastie, so I've made a few in a non-stick frying pan. Assemble in exactly the same way, heat until the cheese melts, flip and toast some more. I actually prefer them because I can put the filling up to the edges.
We also had a Dualit combi job that did toasties in a cage. Can't find that either, and they are deuced expensive but I might buy another.
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>>What on earth...
They get overloaded and forced shut. Cheese everywhere.
When I buy a new one I may splash out and buy one with removable dishwasher safe plates.
(And before anyone says, I did not put the whole sandwich maker in the dishwasher or sink.) :-)
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Back to air fryers, I read this morning that a fire brigade is trying to get them investigated as they've been responsible for a number of kitchen fires. Whether it's back from the pub, put the chip pan on, fall asleep or other misuse type scenario, it didn't say.
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Don't they have a thermostat? Can't see how they would be any more dangerous than an oven or a toaster
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Air Fryers - sooty123
